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Opinions about climate change are suddenly all the rage again (literally) with Monday’s release of proposed new Environmental Protection Agency regulations aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants by 30 percent by 2030. The New York Times put this story at the top of its coverage on Monday, although the story was […]

Ever since a neighbor gave us a large pussy willow wreath some years ago, we have hung it on our front door each April to remind us that the exasperatingly halting pace of Maine’s northern spring will one day bring forth new growth. The wreath is a large but delicate piece, and no one in […]

A couple of decades ago, on a trip to the United Nations the headquarters, I was an observer during two days of sessions while several hundred international delegates debated provisions of the Convention on the Law of the Sea. Having witnessed a decade’s-worth of fruitless efforts by New England fisheries organizations trying to arrest the slow-motion […]

Earlier this month, the Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change released a series of reports on the state of the world’s changing climate. Perhaps the most notable thrust of these reports, which were compiled from more than 9,200 studies reviewed and debated by 831 lead authors and editors, was the effort to move beyond the nearly two-decade-long […]

“Virginia is for lovers.” Now, there’s a state slogan that works like a charm, at least for luring tourists. “Live free or die” is in another category altogether, a state slogan with attitude. There is even a state with the slogan, “Great potatoes,” which I am happy to report is not Maine’s slogan, not that […]

It used to be that most of the larger towns along the Maine coast and even some of those far inland had a fish market. The owner knew a handful of reliable fishermen, often from his childhood, who could be counted on to deliver his catch on some sort of reasonable schedule, depending on the […]

With international crises dominating news headlines lately, perhaps we should revisit a recent international crisis that was smoothed over with some smoked trout from Maine. We are speaking about the crisis of French President Francois Hollande’s visit to Washington last month. The question of great pith and moment then was whether Hollande would bring his […]

When President Barack Obama visited drought-stricken California a few weeks ago, he suggested, “A changing climate means that weather-related disasters like droughts, wildfires, storms, floods are potentially going to be costlier and they’re going to be harsher.” Obama’s California visit provoked furious criticism from his political opponents like Republican U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes of Fresno […]

Last week the U.S. State Department released its final report on the environmental impacts on the Keystone Pipeline amid intense media coverage. The reason many people in Maine are paying attention to how the Keystone decision plays out is that if this $7 billion pipeline project is approved, the likelihood that the Portland pipeline will […]

Oh, to be in the fuel oil or propane business these days, I think to myself every time I hear the boiler in the basement ignite with a shudder or listen to the whoosh of the blue enamel propane heater in our drafty kitchen. Of course, I realize it is no fun delivering fossil fuels […]